Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Nothing Doing

I think what Yankee management is going to realize after these winter meetings is that as much as the players like the money, they also very much liked playing for Joe Torre. And without his presence, it's just not as appealing as it once was.

Probably already covered - MLB Home Plate said that both CC and Man Ram have approached the Dodgers and said point blank that they want to play for them (although it looks like Boras/Manny blew it by rejecting a 2 year offer). Simply put, I do not think CC will land in the Bronx.

While I never cared for him, on paper, the signing of "K-Rod" is a pretty good deal for the Mets.

20 comments:

Reports are circulating that Brian Cashman went to San Francisco to meet a third time with CC Sabathia. Apparently the trip was worth it as "unnamed sources" have indicated Sabathia has accepted the Yankees offer. It also appears the Yankees are going to make an offer to Ben Sheets.

I think the Yankees will increase their offer to Pettitte and maybe make it incentive based for him to get to $15 or$16MM. 5 years for Burnett is too much risk. They could do the 5th year as a vested option based on innings pitched.

Scooter I agree the line-up has holes in it. The offense wasn't cutting it last year and they have lost 2 players that gave them a combined 52 HR, 168 R, 196 RBI. Posada and Matsui can offset that a little but they still need help.

Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com is reporting the Yankees have offered AJ Burnett a 5 year deal believed to be worth $80MM. The difference between this offer and the Braves offer is the Yankees are giving him the guaranteed 5th year, where Atlanta is not, it's either a vest or an option.

Some are speculating that Burnett's contract could be on par with Carlos Zambrano ($91.5MM)when all said and done.

No pitcher is worth $161 million. Sabathia threw over 3800 pitches last year; anyone worried about that number of pitches from a guy that looks like he spends his career at burger king. Don't get me wrong - he is the top free agent pitcher on the market, great guy to have in the club house but $161 million, the Yankees bid against themselves.

There is a need to still sign at least one other free agent pitcher. Statistically, Sabathia will replace Mussina's victories. Wang (if healthy) will give us the same number as Pettitte last year. Crash, the Yankees apparently have added a fifth year to the offer for Burnett and it is in the range of $88 million.

It is also being rumored that a Cameron for Cabrera trade is in the air.

Old Prof if Wang only gets 14 W's with a 4.50 ERA (that's would Pettitte did last year)that would be a disappointment.

Once they signed CC I knew the Cameron trade would happen. I don't mind trading Melky. Cameron isn't a huge upgrade, more power, it's just a PR move to help CC get acclimated to a new team and NYC, Cameron was a Met for a couple years and is familiar with the city. Cameron is on a 1 year contract at $10MM so it's not a long term thing.

It looks like the Melky-Cameron deal isn't done yet. There's a possibility the Yankees could also receive Bill Hall (coincidentally also a friend of CC's) in the deal. The Brewers are asking for some pitching in return. The Brewers would agree to take back some of Cameron's salary based on the quality of that pitcher. A lot of different dynamics moving here.

I understand the hesitation about keeping Cabrera, however, he is significantly younger than Cameron. Cameron is not going to give you that much of an upgrade offensively and he tends to strikeout a lot more than you would like to see. Cost wise, he is expensive even if the Brewers pick up his contract and Hill is due a sizeable amount too and plays third base. Why would they want him???

I think I yelled at Scooter when he tried to explain that Cameron "wasn't bad". He had a down year in average. But the more I look at his #'s it's a pretty significant upgrade at that position. Here's Melky's line from last year:414 AB, .249, 8 HR, 42 R, 37 RBI, 9 SB.

So in 30 more AB's, Cameron triples Melky's power output, nearly doubles his run production and SB totals. That is a huge upgrade over Melky, offensively. Defensively Melky is a little better (looking at the sabermetric stuff). I still don't think Cameron is worth $10MM, but it's a big offensive upgrade.

This may all be for naught, as Ken Rosenthal is reporting the deal has hit a roadblock based on the previously mentioned dynamics (2nd player and $).

Crash already mentioned Proctor, but the Dodgers also let Saito go. He might make for an interesting set-up option.

Also the Rockies non tendered Willy Tavares. Now grant it I don't know a whole lot about him, but I DO know that he is a relatively young, very athletic center fielder who runs like the wind (led the majors in stolen bases with 68). But he appears to be injury prone and he has absolutely NO power. I don't know, does anyone think he would be a "cheaper than Cameron, but upgrade over Melky" option in Center Field?

Some other interesting names on the list:Ty WiggingtonJohnny Gomesand maybe the most intriguing, Daniel Cabrera.

Taveras is an interesting option. He certainly can run, he has had injury problems the last 2 seasons. I think he's about .270 hitter, though he did go above .300 one season. His OBP is a little low for a lead-off guy though. In my mind he's the equivalent of Gardner with little more speed. Rumor on Taveras is that the Reds are interested.